Designed by Japanese media artist Toshio Iwai, the Tenori-On is conceived as a new musical instrument for the digital age. Continuing from where his Electroplankton software (for the Nintendo DS) left off and adding a generous dollop of step-sequencer immediacy, Iwai marries visual appeal with an integral synthesizer — and alarm clock! The much-heralded pilot release has been UK-only, suggesting that this is uncharted territory for all concerned.

Resembling an object from the Starship Enterprise crèche, this is a quite unprecedented hi-tech cyber-toy. Yes, there are parallels with existing devices such as the Monome or even the Genoqs Octopus, but unlike the former, the Tenori-On requires no computer to perform its tricks, while comparisons with the latter are primarily due to its LED grid method of note entry.

The Tenori-On is small, approximately eight inches square, and constructed of rounded, polished magnesium. It rattles slightly when handled, courtesy of the myriad white buttons forming the user interface and animated display. There are 256 of these buttons, with an equal number on the rear, although those on the rear are display-only. From the outset, it's clear that the Tenori-On is as much about visuals as it is about sound; its graphical shenanigans are presented to both performer and audience, assuming it is held vertically (which isn't actually the most comfortable playing angle) rather than flat on your lap.

Power is supplied by an external adaptor or by six AA batteries. Battery power offers the tempting prospect of performance in any environment, and its tiny 1W stereo speakers proved adequate for close-in listening at least. For more intimate music-making, a mini stereo headphone socket is provided; this serves as a line out should you wish to plumb into a more substantial sound system. The remaining port to the outside world is a Mini DIN socket, providing MIDI In and Out via a breakout cable, so you can synchronise playback with other Tenori-Ons or talk to external MIDI gear.

With all connections made along the base of the instrument, the wires do tend to get in the way. It's hard to imagine where else they could have gone without a total redesign, but sometimes handling felt a little awkward. Top of my wants list would be a stand or cradle to safeguard the connections during play.

By far the most eye-catching aspect of the Tenori-On is its 16x16 matrix of opaque plastic buttons. Serving as both note and data entry points, they are backlit in three discrete intensities, resulting in a striking animated display. It's worth checking out some of the on-line video demos to appreciate the impact of this, but even so, the reality is better. In addition, the user interface offers five buttons to be operated with the left hand (L1 to L5) and five more for the right (R1 to R5). Add a small backlit display, a jog wheel and two buttons marked OK and Cancel and that's almost it. There's one small button you might miss, right at the top: Clear. This is your means of instantly wiping notes you have entered on the panel.

My final observation before I commence making noises, is that, although the buttons seem robust enough to withstand careful finger prodding, I treated them with respect throughout, as I doubt they would prove inexpensive to replace. Were I to own one of these, I'd definitely invest in some sort of case or bag to protect it.

The Tenori-On generates notes using six different methods, known as Modes, distributed unequally across 16 Layers. Some of the modes offer unique ways to create patterns of notes, so we'll look at each one in turn. For now, suffice it to say that the first seven layers generate notes using...